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Or, I think I have a media consumption problem

I went for a walk over lunch today. I put on my sunglasses, switched by iPod to The Decemberists and walked around town. (Generally I feel that it’s a good policy to walk further than the 10 feet from my car to the office door at some point during the day.) While I was walking I realized that I’m plugged in to some sort of audio or looking at a screen for at least 90% of my waking hours. 90% of the time, I’m getting some sort of audio or visual stimulus that’s not related to what’s happening in the physical world around me.

I turn on the TV news while I get ready in the morning, listen to an audio book on the way to work. I have three screens in front of me while I work, my headphones in my ears. I carry my iPod, phone, and iPad with me at all times. Within two minutes to walking into work or home, I’m logged in to my laptop checking e-mail or social media sites.Continue reading →

One recent rainy night, I curled up on my couch with popcorn and Netflix Instant, ready to spend a quiet night at home. The peace was sweet — while it lasted. Soon, my iPhone began flashing with notifications from a handful of social networking sites, each a beacon of information about what my friends were doing.

As the alerts came in, my mind began to race. Three friends, I learned, had arrived at a music venue near my apartment. But why? What was happening there? Then I saw pictures of other friends enjoying fancy milkshakes at a trendy restaurant. Suddenly, my simple domestic pleasures paled in comparison with the things I could be doing.

This. So much. Sometimes I try to ban myself from my laptop when I’m watching a movie because I know I won’t enjoy it if I’m distracted by all of the “better” things that everyone else is doing. (Generally, I fail at enforcing the ban.)

But, it goes beyond doubting that what you’re doing in the moment isn’t good enough. It also leads to doubting what you’re doing with your life. A friend of mine turned 32 this week. She’s a lawyer – smart and independent. In the last year, she’s moved to a new city, started a new job, and made new friends. All in all, I’d say it’s been a pretty successful year. But on her birthday she was bummed. Why? Well, because her Facebook friends were all posting pictures of their new husbands, new houses, and new babies, and suddenly her accomplishments didn’t seem like nearly enough.

Ms. Jenner also recognizes this bigger problem:

A friend who works in advertising told me that she felt fine about her life — until she opened Facebook. “Then I’m thinking, ‘I am 28, with three roommates, and oh, it looks like you have a precious baby and a mortgage,’ ” she said. “And then I wanna die.”

On those occasions, she said, her knee-jerk reaction is often to post an account of a cool thing she has done, or to upload a particularly fun picture from her weekend. This may make her feel better — but it can generate FOMO in another unsuspecting person.

I’m completely guilty of posting things that make my life seem cool, or at least busy. (And now you’re thinking, “Maggie, your newfeed doesn’t make your life seem cool. If you think that’s the cool version of your life, your life must be really lame”. And now I’m feeling bad…) But, let’s be honest, we use social media to present idealized versions of ourselves. No one posts pictures of their babies crying in the middle of the night. People don’t post about the days it rained on their vacation. And I don’t update my status to tell you that it’s eight o’clock and I’m getting ready for a thrilling evening of Law & Order in my pajamas. (Although secretly, those are some of my favorite evenings.)

MaggieCakes is a blog about culture, social media, and what’s new in the world of Internet culture. Every day (okay, I try for every day) I comb blogs and news outlets for the news about internet culture and social media to bring them to you (with my commentary, of course) here on MaggieCakes. MaggieCakes is hosted by WordPress and often draws upon Slate, Jezebel, The Hair Pin, and SocialTimes for links and inspiration. My post Social Media and the Art of Storytelling was featured on freshly pressed, bringing a while new readership to my blog. Find anything interesting in the worlds of culture or social media that you’d like to see a post on? Leave a comment or send me an e-mail at 2maggieotoole@gmail.com.

“So okay, I don't want to be a traitor to my generation and all but I don't get how guys dress today. I mean, come on, it looks like they just fell out of bed and put on some baggy pants and take their greasy hair - ew - and cover it up with a backwards cap and like, we're expected to swoon? I don't think so.”

… these are their stories.

Today’s New York Daily News has an article called “Court officers scold defendants: ‘Pull up your pants, or get out of court!‘”. (Personally, I think my title is much more compelling.) The article (which is basically a compilation of quotes from teenagers saying “leave me alone, old man, I can’t do what I want” and court officers and elected officials saying “young whippersnappers dress like hooligans” and presumably thinking “they couldn’t walk uphill in the snow both ways like I used to with their pants like that” – obviously I’ve taken a bit of artistic license with the quotes…), is not nearly as interesting as the comments.

As often comes up in the discussion of baggy pants, one of the commenters mentioned that they’re an emulation of prison culture (maybe originally, but I’m really doubting that that’s a conscious influence on most kids). Strangely, no one responded by saying that, no matter how far removed, it’s probably not a good thing to reference prison culture when you’re in front of a judge on criminal charges. Just saying, it might be worth considering…

When one commenter on Jezebel expressed concern that this policy would disproportionately effect people of low socio-economic class, another responded, “It’s targeted at a group of people who voluntarily show their underwear and happen to be of a lower socio-economic class. The fact is, being poor doesn’t mean your butt has to stick out of your pants, it’s just somehow supposed to be more acceptable or something.” (Link to Jezebel’s article (and comments) is here.)

This calls for a mash up of Law and Order and “Pants on the Ground“. Preferably with L&O intro autotuned.

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